Closure latch



Nov. 8, 1932. N. A. MEARS CLOSURE LATCH Filed April 17. 1930 Patented Nov. 8, 1932 UNITED. STATES r ce NORTON A. MEARS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, AssIeNOa TO cnroAeo FORGING & MANU- FACTURING CO., on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION on ILLIN Is CLOSURE LATCH The invention relates to latches of the type employed in securing the movable cover of an automobile hood in closed position, and has especial reference to that type'of latch which is enclosed within the hood with the operating handle projecting exteriorly of the hood.

A general object of my invention is to pro vide a latch of novel and advantageous construction such that it will at all times occupy a space inside the hood cover small enough to avoid interference with other parts within the hood.

In carrying out my invention I employ a latch construction including a resilient lever fulcrumed on one of the two members to be secured together and providing a latcharm adapted for swinging movement into and out of engagement with an abutment or zokeeper on the other one of said members.

With this in view, a further object of my invention is to provide a novel and eifective means for operating the latch arm including an over center device operative to hold the lever under tension when in either its latched or inoperative. positions.

The. ob 'ects of the invention, thus set forth, together-with other and ancillary advantages are attained in the embodiment of the inven 3o jtion illustrated in the accompanying drawing and hereinafter more particularly described, it being understood that various changes in the construction may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a vertical sectional view taken just inside the plane of the two parts to be connected, the latter being shown in fragmentary form.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken approximately in the plane of line 2-2 of Fi 1. 7 I

*ig. 3 is an under-side view with thehood parts shownin section.

While the invention is notlimited to use in' connection with automobile hoods, it is particularly applicablevto such a use and will therefore be described in that environment.

1930. Serial Na l 44,888.

Thus the latch is shown as applied to the V i inside'of ahood of which designates a section of the movable hood coverand 8 a fixed 1 member on the automobile in part defining the openingj'closed by the hood, one edge of the cover section being shown as slightlyoverlapping the fixed member. Mounted on the 7 inside of the cover section is a relatively thin casing 9 having opposed side walls 10 and 10 spaced a "short distance-apart; Operable within the casing. is 'alever generally designated 11. This lever is fulcrumed at one end 7 corner remote from the edge of the cover. Thefree end portion of the lever 11 constitutes a latch arm 13 of a length such as to be swingable across the joint formed between the hood section and the fixed member into engagement with an abutment 14 constituting a keeper on the fixed member of the automobile. g

The lever 11 is preferably formed from a heavy wire or rod of suitable resilient material, and between its ends is constructed to provide a connection with the inner end of an operator generally designated 16. i i

The operator 16 comprises a shank 17 having at its outer end'a handle 18 and at its inner end a double crank ar1n'19. The operator is rotatably supported in the opposed side walls of the casing, and the crankarm 19 is pivotally connected with the lever 11 intermediate the endsthereof, the rod forming the lever being for this purpose formed with a 'single intermediate coil 20,- which coil further increases the resiliency of the lever.

In order that the crank may be operative to swing the lever, the operator, is rotatably and slidably supported at opposite sides of the crank in slots 21 formed in the opposed side plates of the casing 9, which slots, it will be observed extend approximately radiallyfrom the pin 12 forming the fulcrum for the lever. Registering with the slots 21 an elongated opening 22 is formed in the hood cover section 7. r v

V The arrangement is such'that by imparting the shank of the operator, Which slidably engages the guide slots 21, the lever is swung about its fulcrum to carry the latch arm 13 into and out of engagement with the keeper abutment 14. At either extreme end of such movement, the end of the crank 19 occupies a position at the end of the slots 21 remote from the fulcrum pin 12 for the lever, and

such ends of the, slots are ppsitioned sothat the crank arm engaging, therewith oc upies an over center position. 'i I In order to utilize the resiliency of: the lever, the over-center movement of the crank arm occurs after the latch arm 13 engages With the abutment in thelatching position of the device, and afterthe latch: armengages With a stationaryipart of thecasing in the un latched position'of the device. Thus, it will position.

In order that the latch may be effective. to restrain the hood cover against outward movement, the lower surface of the keeper abutment 14; is inclined, upwardly and inwardly as indicatedclearly in Fig. 2 to form a cam surface 23. Moreover the free end of the" latch arm is guided for up and down movement by flanged guides 23? on the eas- 40 mg. It Willthus be apparentthat by reason resiliency of the latch ti'm wllelldl lltlel ten; sion and theguiding of the arm by the cas ing, the hoodicover Willbe drawn and held firmlyinpositionin overlapping relation to "the fixed member 8.

The; keeper abutmentlL may be constructed economically w from sheetmetal, Thus'it may 7 comprise abase plateQ l havingintegral with opposite side edges thereof arms 25 Which 'maybebent at their free ends into abutting relation to form the inclinedcam surface 28.

It will be seenthat I have provided a latch of advantageous character, simple in construction and effective in operation, and furthermore of such compactness that it is capa ble of use in. small or restricted spaces.

I claim as my invention 1. Afdevicefor securing a movable closure member ucomprising, an. abi tment projecting CO from lmeans defining the opening closure of the member, a lever pivoted on themember and adapted to be swung into. and out ofzengagement W thsa d abutment, 'a crank arm to sw ng said -lever havlng one end journale d in said'lever and the other end guided" be apparent that the lever arm may be held dental operation of thelever into latching V ofthis shape of the keeper coupledwith in the lever supporting member for rotational and bodily sliding movement radially from the point of support of said lever.

2. A latch for automobile hood covers and the like, comprising, in combination, an abutment projecting from one. of the two parts to be connected, a lever fulcrumed on the other part forrotation in a plane parallel thereto, and an over-center; device! for rotatingr saidlever into-engaging or retractedpositionrelak tive to said abutment, said device comprising a crankhaving an arm pivotally connected at one end With the lever and guided at the other end in. the. parts supporting said lever for bodily sliding movement into over-center relation to the lever.

3'. Alatch for hood covers; and. the like, comprising, an abutment proj ecting from one ofthe tWoparts to be.coi1nected, a resilient lever fulcrumed on the other part for rotation in a plane parallel to the cover, means providing a slot disposed substantially radiallyof'the lever fulcr-uimand a crank journaled at one end" in said lever and guided-at theother end in said slot, said slot extending radially outward to permit of movement of tile crank into perpendicular relation to said s ot.

4, A securing latch,for an automobile hood having a movable cover member overlapping a fixed member comprising, an abutment projecting from the fixed member, a casing .mounted on the interior of the movable cover member, a resilient lever fulcrumed' insaidl casing for movementina plane parallel-to the cover and'having a latch arm projecting therefrom for engagement With said abut-- ment, and*an over-center device for rotating said lever comprising a ll sllap dl crank pivotedat one end to saidlever, means' for rotatably supporting ,the other end of thecrank permitting bodily'movement thereof; in a di rection extending substantially radially from the fulcrum of said lever and lying between the extreme-positions of said lever, 'theele no ments of the ,latch being proportioned and Po it th t aidarm' nsaee a dfla ment before said crank reaches the neutral 1 r-equilib iumpo i enof h evlce.

5. An automobile hjoodjlatchjfor securing a movable cover memberinposition, comprising, an abutmentsecuredjon the interiorof a fixed memberoftheautomobile, the lower edge ofsaid abutmentsIOping inwardly,a casing mounted on theinterior of the movable cover member, and a lever fulcrumedin saidcasing for rotation, in a plane parallel] withthehoodcove'r and adapted to engage the sloping edge of said abutment, said-casing 7 having, a, narrow verticalj slot, guiding-- the lever and resisting the inwardgforcecre ted y e lepingfi tfaqe f rs d abutment;

to Ql lfl hF- c e gai t .mw men per'v pendi'cular to the fixed member.

6. A latch for an automobile hood com 136 prising, in combination, an abutment on a. fixed member of the automobile, a lever of resilient construction pivoted on the hood and swingable into engagement With said abutment, and an operator engaging said lever and rotatable about an axis to swing said lever, said axis being movable transversely to position said operator by distortion of said lever in holding relation thereto.

7. A latch for an automobile hood comprising, in combination, an abutment on a fixed member of the automobile, a lever fulcrumed on the hood and swingable into engagement with said abutment, and an operator with a crank arm having one end journaled in said lever and the other end rotatably supported in the hood member carrying said lever and guided in the member for movement transversely of its axis of rotation, said lever engaging said abutment before reaching the limit of movement imparted by said operator and the limit of permissible transverse movement of said crank arm, said lever being yieldably constructed to permit said crank arm to be moved beyond the position imparting maximum movement to said lever.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature. 1

NORTON A. MEARS. 

